Boiler-feeder.



N. ENGLISH BOILER FEEDER.

APPLIOATIQN FILED MAR. 25, 1908.

Patented Got. 2?, 1 908.

11 uventor U I ED STATES PATENT- orrro;

No'aM-AN' ENGLISH, or Damon, MICHIGAN.

" soILEarEEpER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 27,1908;

Appiication'filed March 25, 1908. sr1t11vo. 42s,os2.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, NORMAN Eneusa a' citizenof the United States,residing at Detroit, county of Wayne, State of Michigan, have invented acertain new and useful IIn provement in Boiler-Feeders, and declare thefollowing to be .a full, clear, and exact description of the same, suchas will enable others skilled in the art to which it pertains to makeand use the same,'reference being had to the accompanying drawings,which;

- form apart of this specification.

This invention relates to boiler feeders.

It has for itsobject an improved means for collectin and returning waterof condensation to t e boiler automatically.

fThe drawing'is a diagram of the apparatus.

1 indicates the boiler into which the water is fed through pipe 2, andfrom which the steam emerges throughpipe 3. The steam passing throughpipe 3 to its place of use is condensed in the various pi es and coils,as

in'coil 4, and-the condense steam runs by gravity into a well 5, inwhichit gradually accumulates. From the well 5 the water is lifted by theforce of the steam in the system, past check valve 6, throughpipe 7 intoa stationary tank 8, and accumulates in the stationary tank Suntil itrises above the out-' flow pipe 9, through which the water passes and isdelivered into a hanging receptacle 10.

The receptacle 1O hangs on the end of a lever, 11, which controls twovalves the one valve 12' is a balance valve in the'pipe 9, and' theother valve 13 is a balance valve in asteam pipe14, that leadsfrom themain steam pipe 3 into the top of the tank8. The receptacle 10 has awater outlet 16, closed by a hand actuated valve 17, which is normallyopen. 1 The receptacle 10 hangs in a guard vessel 19, into which dropsthe waterpassing through, the outlet 17, and fromthe guard vessel thewater' is conveyed, or may be conveyed, into the well '5, or into anysuitable receptacle for the water that has been used to actuate thelever 11. The large outlet of the pipe 41 Whith leads from the radiatorinto the well 5 is closable by afloat actuated valve 42 thatcloses bythe droppling of the float 43 by gravity' when the we is emptied, ,Theoutlet from the pipe 11 is greater part of it is closed ofi',leavin'g abypass 43 for water. to enter'the tank5, but closing oil the lar' caperture,'and preventin the excessivejin ow of steam into the we 1 untilthe full orifice is opened; the; small 'not entirely closed, but theamount of steain escaping into the well through the downwardly directedopening 1:3 I

condenses. v The operation of the device is as follows The pipes beingfilled with steam, some part of the steam condenses, and the water ofcondensation' flows by gravity into the well 5,

whence it islifted by the pressure of steam behind it; as soon as thewater in the well has lifted the float valve to open the full OIlfice,the water in the well 5 is driven u into the tank 8, rises in thetank 8and 1n the.

parallel pipe 81 untilit rises above the end -of the .pipe 9, thensome'part of the water passes through the pipe 9 ast the now open valve12, dro s into and ill 10, into Whic the water runs faster't an it canrun out through the dischar e pipe 1 6.

As soon as the receptacle 10 has een filled, it' drops by gravity,closes the valve 12, and

W, open-J ls the wee tacle I onger runs i By this action the air hasbeen driven out 3 from the tank 8, which is filled with steam,

and this steam condenses, producing a par. tial vacuum in the tank; thewater imme diately begins to flow into the tank 8 from the well. Afterthe system has become warmed up, so that the condensation therein I iscomparatively slow, the small amount of water which. gathers in the well5 during the time that tl1c'.tank 8 is discharging, rises almostimmediately into the tank 8, and inimediately after the water inthe well5 sinks below the lower end of the pipe 7, steam fol. lows into thetank, and. the force of this steam is sufiicient to equalize pressure onthe water now in the tank 8, and the actuating rece tacle 1G ceases-tohavean active art in tlie return of-the water to the boiler, t iough itis ,present, and in condition to act wheneverfor any reason the waterwhich gathers in the tank 8' 1s S'Ull'lClBIli) to overflow into the reOeptaclel 0. This is especially the case if the pressure in the systemis very low, as isfre '-'quently the case, so low that the-pressure "is:

the atmosphere,

not suliiciont to overcome and force o fen the check valve in the p1 e 9-which is he d to itsscat by grav'itylan atmospheric ressure. Thisboiler feeder Will may be changed at will by hand manipulaact eflicienty when the pressure of the steam tion ofvalves 25, 26 and 27.

in the system. fails as. low as a half pound.

In the original construction of the a paratus, the pipe 9 is so locatedalong t e parallel pipe 81, that it determines the amount of fluid to becollected in said tank before the fluid begins to overflow through thepipe 9 into the receptacle 10. This is done by placing on the bparallelpi e 81 a number 0' couplings, a, c, d, anc e, and connecting the pipe 9to that one of the couplings which is at the proper height to determinethe desired amount of water to be collected before it is emptied intothe boiler. The place of this connection depends on the size of theplant with which the apparatus is used. With a large plant more Wateristo be collected than with a small plant.

When high pressure steam is employed, an additional apparatus may beemplo ed, that is, when the pressure of steam is so igh that theoverflow Water in the receptacle 10 is unable to pass the check valve18. This additional device consists of a tank 20 into which water fromthe tank 19 empties, passing as it does so a float check valve 21. Thetank 20 is supplied with an outlet pipe 22, in which there isa checkvalve 23, and with a steam inlet pipe 24, which communicates with themain steam pipe 3, and through which steam is admitted into the tank 20Whenever the valve 13 is opened. The water will readily drop from thetank 19 into the tank 20, and when in the tank 20 is in position to beequalized between the back pressure from the tank 5 and steamsubstantially taken directly from the boiler through the pipe 24. Thesystem What I claim is 1. In a boiler feeder, in combination with asteam boiler and a system of steam heating pipes supplied thereby, awell intowhich said pipes drain, a tank located above the boiler andadapted to empty thereinto by gravity, a pipe connecting said well andsaid tank, an overflow ipe from said tank, a rece tacle into which saidoverflow drains, a Va ve in said overflow ipe controlled by saidreceptacle as a weig t, a valve in the steam pipe adapted to control theadmission of steam into said tank and itself controlled by said receptacle'as a weight, substantially as de. scribed.

. 2. In a boiler feeder, in combination with a steam boiler and a systemof heating ipes supplied thereby, a collecting well, aco lecting tank, apipe through which water may be forced from the well to the tank, avalve therein adapted to prevent a return flow therethrough, an overflowpipe from said tank, a receptacle adapted to catch the overflowtherefrom, pipes connecting said tank and said receptacle with theboiler, whereby water may be returned thereinto from either, and valvesactuated by said receptacle,

the pressure on the water contained 1n the tank, substantially asdescribed.

In testimony whereof, I sign this specifica whereby steam may beadmitted to equalize

